Nick Dunn’s time in jail reaches two years

Today is a poignant day for an Ashington sailor and his family – he has now served two years of his five-year sentence as the fight to free him and his colleagues continues.

Nick Dunn was among six British sailors making up a crew of 35 arrested by Indian authorities in October 2013 for allegedly carrying unlicensed weapons in Indian waters.

They were later charged and when a court eventually quashed these charges in April 2014, they had been detained for six months.

But the nightmare continued as Indian police appealed the decision and refused to return all the passports and documents, which meant the crew had to stay in the Asian country.

And the six British men were then sentenced to five years in prison at a court hearing in January 2016 – two years has now been reached as the sentence took into account the first period of detention.

They are still waiting for the appeal judgement. This hearing ended in November.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson recently vowed to “leave no stone unturned” in a bid to bring the men back to the UK.

Nick’s sister Lisa said: “The wait for the appeal result to be issued is very frustrating, especially as we’ve been told the judge wrote his orders in May.

“Every second in prison is a second wasted as either Nick will be able to come home or the solicitors representing the men can start the process of appealing to the Indian Supreme Court.

“We appreciate what Boris Johnson said, but I feel that the words are just meaningless unless robust action is taken and I think he should get on a plane to India to speak directly to the relevant authorities.

“We’re not asking Government officials to interfere with the process, we’re asking them to help speed it up.

“To mark the men serving two years in prison, we’ve been asking people on social media to post a short video to us showing their support for them and we will tell the men about this support as a way of boosting their morale.”